“I don’t think they’re coming back tonight,”
Giles said walking in front of the big screen TV as Letterman strolled
onto the set. “It’s late, we’ve had a difficult
evening, I think we should all retire to bed.” There was muted
grumbling but no serious opposition. “Cordelia, would you
please show us where we’re to sleep?”

There were two guestrooms: Oz and Nancy got one and Larry and Giles
took the other.

Joyce went upstairs with Cordelia. She changed into a frilly silk
nightgown borrowed from Cordelia’s mother’s boudoir
and slid into the bed feeling the awkwardness of sharing a bed with
someone she barely knew. She’d known Cordelia for more than
three years, but she doubted they’d ever exchanged ten words
all that time and once she’d left town she’d never given
the girl a second thought.

“This is kinda fun, huh? Like a slumber party with less giggling.”

“Thank God.” Joyce shuddered; she still had flashbacks
from some of Buffy’s L.A. parties.

Joyce sighed. “I don’t really have a home. I don’t
even have my purse, or ID or money. I am as you find me.”

“That Anya did. Well, you can stay here as long as you want.
There’s plenty of room and I checked the calendar in my parents’
room and they’re not due back for another two weeks.”

“What about Luz?””

“She’s not in charge of me. She’s just here for
the house and so my parents won’t look like bad people if
anyone figures out they left me here on my own.” Joyce wondered
how often the Chases did this, and how old Cordelia had been when
they started. “And tomorrow I’ll take you shopping!
It’ll be my good deed!” With a satisfied nod Cordelia
turned off the light.

~*~

The sun rose. The Master felt it, even safe in his chambers in
the Bronze’s basement. He threw his half-drained breakfast
to the floor and glared at the attending minions.

“Why are my favorites not here?”

The minions glanced nervously at each other. No-one answered.

“I sent them on a simple mission. Surely killing one insignificant
woman can’t have taken this long.” A few of the older,
more seasoned minions began easing their way towards the exit. “You!”
The Master said picking out an unfortunate fledgling. “Tell
me!”

“They aren’t back, yet, Master.”

The Master’s high-pitched screech dragged Angel from the
sleep that was his only refuge from the hell he’d been trapped
in for nearly two years. Making sure to betray no sign that he was
awake, he listened to the screams recognizing the distinctive sound
of vampires being rendered back to dust. Something must have truly
annoyed the old monster to provoke this level of slaughter. He thought
it had been at least a month since the last outburst.

The noise died down eventually and an unusual quiet fell over the
Bronze, broken only by the soft whimpers of captive humans and the
moans of injured vampires. He waited until he was absolutely sure
there was no one nearby in his vicinity before taking the risk of
opening his eyes.

He was alone. Safe. Angel sat up slowly, wincing at the pull of
half-healed burns and incisions. It had been maybe two days since
Willow had come to ‘play’. She’d gotten a little
bit carried away last time and nearly dusted him, but Xander, goddamn
him, had pulled her off a moment too soon.

He let his senses expand letting the miasma of vampires, blood
new and old, fear and lust wash over him. The Bronze was eerily
quiet. For the first time since the Master rose there was no feeding
or fucking or torture being perpetuated. Even better, the spoor
of his chief tormentors was stale, hours old. It was well after
sunrise and they weren’t here.

Relief mixed with dismay at the thought that if they’ve been
dusted by someone else he’d never get his chance at revenge.
But all things considered – he could live with it.

He tugged at the chain holding him to the wall pretending that
there was slightly more give than the last time he’d tested
it. He set his heels and tugged harder, welcoming the pain in his
shoulders because it belonged to him, for once it wasn’t a
humiliation. The pain but his own weakness finally forced him to
stop. He hadn’t fed in more than a week. Not since he’d
refused the bleeding and hysterical child they’d tried to
force on him. He’d earned himself a beating, and of course
the child died anyway, but it was worth it to see the rage on both
their faces when Puppy proved he wasn’t entirely their pet,
that they hadn’t managed to break him completely. Yet.

He lay down again on the filthy floor and closed his eyes again.
He let the image that had helped sustain him all these months fill
his mind: She was so pretty, and young, too-short skirt riding up
on her thigh as she bounced down the stairs, her golden hair gleaming
in the afternoon sun. Buffy, he thought, why don’t you come?

~*~

Well, well, well: The Slayer.

The Slayer was coming to Sunnydale.

Spike took another swig from the bottle savoring the burn as the
last of the tequila drained down his throat. He threw the bottle
at the crypt’s wrought iron gate where a heap of smashed glass
glittered in the sunlight.

He’d heard about this Slayer. Buffy. Stupid name, but by
all reports she was the strongest Slayer in years, maybe ever. She’d
killed Lothos and that old fucker had been nearly as mean as the
Master. She’d kept the Cleveland Hellmouth under control for
more than two years. He’d wanted to track her down, see if
he couldn’t bag his third, but Dru hadn’t wanted to
leave Europe, and after Prague it wasn’t possible to leave
her.

She’d been so frail at the end. What blood he managed to
get inside her wouldn’t stay; it sieved through her paper-thin
skin and stained the sheets pink. He’d locked himself in the
room for three days after she’d gone, watching her dust spin
and glitter in the air until the last of it vanished.

He grabbed another bottle out of the case he’d taken from
Liquor Barn after eating the stock boy, opened it and poured another
healing draft down his throat. God he missed her. There’d
never been anything like his ripe wicked plum in the world, and
there never would be again. That bat-faced freak will pay for her
loss; then he’ll kill himself a third Slayer and make himself
king of the Hellmouth.